Sarbaugh transfers to NIC

As you could probably tell by the absence of blog posts and tweets the last couple of weeks, I've been on vacation, with a little golf tab mixed in. We're back at it and we'll go ahead and round up all the GU happenings of the last few weeks, including today's news that Chris Sarbaugh is transferring to North Idaho College.

Sarbaugh was classified as a walk-on at Gonzaga, but he received a tuition waiver because his late father, Tim, was a GU professor. He was well liked by teammates and coaches and at least one assistant last year suggested that Sarbaugh had a good shot at playing time down the road. Sarbaugh wants to play now and that certainly wasn't a guarantee at GU. When he decided to look elsewhere, he asked assistant coach Tommy Lloyd to call NIC and things progressed from there. More below on Sarbaugh's transfer, first reported by varsitycda.com.

While I was gone, Gonzaga released its non-conference schedule, which includes an ESPN College GameDay date with Butler, and its WCC schedule. Assistant coach Tommy Lloyd is GU's latest coach-in-waiting. That's happened twice in the Mark Few era and Billy Grier and Leon Rice opted to take jobs at other schools.

Chris Sarbaugh, the former Gonzaga Prep basketball standout who redshirted at Gonzaga University last season, is transferring to North Idaho College.

“I loved Gonzaga, loved the people there, but I only have five years to play four years of basketball and I want to take advantage of it the best I can,” Sarbaugh said. “I told myself I was going come to the first (GU) summer session and work my butt off. I felt good, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to keep playing.

“I went and watched Hoopfest and thought, ‘I can’t stop playing.’ In the back of my mind I needed to make a change.”

Sarbaugh, a 6-foot-3 guard, was named MVP of the 2011 State 4A Tournament after leading Gonzaga Prep to the title. He had 17 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in a 61-41 win over Curtis in the championship game.

Sarbaugh has signed with NIC and he’s eligible immediately. He plans on playing one season with the Cardinals and then have three years of eligibility remaining.

“I think he can play three positions,” Cardinals coach Jared Phay said. “I watched him play in the state championship game and he’s a proven winner. I think he just wanted to go where he knew he could play.”